One of the more bizarre exercises of public vanity in Los Angeles has been Donald T. Sterling’s ongoing exhibition of full-page ads in the LA Times. You’ve probably seen them: An announcement that Sterling has been named “Humanitarian of the Year,” featuring an enormous headshot of the Clippers' owner. Sometimes, he’s surrounded by smaller pictures of Clipper front office personnel and local pols; other times it’s exclusively his mug on the page. Over the past couple of years, you might have noticed a new ad in the rotation, proclaiming the development of the $50 million Sterling Homeless, Medical, and Legal Center down at 6th and Wall in Skid Row.

To a season-ticket holder who’s always been a little uneasy with padding DTS’s pockets given his recent history with the civil justice system, the ads have been reassuring. The fact that Sterling would take on such a project actually conformed to my more holistic, though totally speculative, theory that ol’ Donald Tokowitz was setting the entirety of his house in order: He’d again lease apartments to Latino folks in Koreatown. He’d start extending competitive contracts to quality NBA players. And now, he’d assume a lead role in tackling the homeless problem.

From homeless-services operators to local politicians, no one has received specifics for the proposed Sterling Homeless Center. They aren’t the least bit convinced that the project exists.

Sterling and his people have been flirting with homeless advocates and existing facilities downtown for the better part of two years about cooperating on the project, but there’s an eerie pattern to the dalliances. After a few conceptual discussions, Sterling goes missing. No formal permits have been filed with the city. No proposals have come in front of local agencies or officials. Sterling’s campaign has all the hallmarks of publicity whoring.

Read the piece. It’s got quality sourcing – not only from homeless advocates who’ve been jilted by Sterling and his deputies, but from people like the pragmatic and extremely quotable developer Tom Gilmore.

Posted Wednesday, October 29 at 3:20PM

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I know I've seen that building somewhere before. Creepy. The ad states "Homeless Center, Medical Center & Courthouse. The question is COURTHOUSE? Why is DTS proposing to build a private courthouse for the homeless? What charges would be brought against them... reckless shopping cart driving, smelling good? I don't get it.

A lot of people don't want the homeless shelter there. To close to some of the new condos. I could care less, but we'll see in the summer how much money he's gonna spend for free agents. Clippers have to sign Arenas and keep Brand in order to make the playoffs.

The forward is second among rookies in scoring average at 12.0 points a game, trailing only Seattle's Durant.
By Jonathan Abrams, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
March 21, 2008
For all that has gone wrong for the Clippers -- and there has been a lot -- rookie forward Al Thornton continues to shine.

His latest effort -- 24 points and career highs in rebounds (13), minutes (45) and made free throws (12) in Wednesday's loss to the Golden State Warriors -- boosted his season average to 12.0 points.

That's good for a rookie year and more impressive considering he was not taken until the 14th pick. But his growth shows even more when his numbers are dissected.

He averaged 6.3 points in November. The next month, he added two more to his average and nearly five more on top of that in January. In February, he scored 17.4 points a game.

This month, limited by a bruised right leg, his average is down to 13.9 points. His season average is second among all rookies, trailing only the Seattle SuperSonics' Kevin Durant's 19.5 points.

He is emerging as a dark-horse rookie-of-the-year candidate and his presence will soften the blow at small forward if leading scorer Corey Maggette leaves via free agency this summer.

"I think the main thing is that I am feeling good out there," Thornton said. "I am able to slow down and read plays. I'm not in as big of a rush as I was in the early part of the year. My teammates trust me and Coach [Mike Dunleavy] puts me in good situations."

There are aspects of his game that still need fine tuning.

His passing and average of one assist a game are eyesores and he occasionally picks up quick fouls. Still, Dunleavy is ready to declare Thornton the steal in last year's draft.

As Thornton sees opposing defenses multiple times, Dunleavy said he expects him to become even more comfortable on the court.

"He's got a lot to learn," Dunleavy said. "He's doing like he should. A notch here. Down a little bit. A notch here. He's growing. He's growing all the time. He's an explosive scorer. When he's going good, he's a tough guy to stop for anybody."

------

Point guard Brevin Knight's stress reaction in his left leg that bothered him earlier this season flared up, causing him to miss Wednesday's game. He is a game-time decision tonight against the Portland Trail Blazers.

TONIGHT

at Portland, 7, FSN Prime

Site --Rose Garden.

Radio --710.

Records --Clippers 21-46, Trail Blazers 35-33.

Record vs. Trail Blazers -- 0-1.

Update -- The Clippers start a home-and-home series against the Trail Blazers, who have split their last 10 games, watching their dim playoff hopes fade. They beat the Clippers, 82-80, on Feb. 27 in the teams' first meeting. Corey Maggette scored a game-high 32 points, but missed a potential go-ahead basket late in the game.

The crash in LA real estate probably didn't hurt the Donald very much, but it couldn't have been good for his pocketbook either. I wonder if the Donald's newfound enthusiasm to open up his wallet for the Clips the last few years was partly due to tax write offs during the boom years. Now that the real estate market has tanked (even in the South Park area), we'll see if the Donald continues his free spending ways. Of course, his high end luxury apartments and condos are recession proof. There are alot of billionaires out there and not enough multi-million luxury condos to go around. Is this a great city or what?

If you're a defender chasing around a shooting guard, it's exceedingly difficult to get past a Tim Thomas screen. With Phoenix in the postseason, we saw how seemingly every possession for the Suns started with a Thomas high S/R, followed by either a fade or a dive/drag toward the basket. It's more effective in a frenetic offense, but the Clips don't use him enough [or he doesn't take enough initiative...who knows anymore?] on the strong side. Instead, the Clippers rely on this popular [and increasingly antiquated] notion that somehow, if Thomas stands out on the arc, he'll effectively "spread the floor," as if his defender can't sag if Cassell has dribbled to the far left corner -- where he traditionally likes to back down his defender --- or even if Elton has the ball in the low post against a much larger defender over whom he can't zip a pass out to the far side perimeter.

The crash in LA real estate probably didn't hurt the Donald very much, but it couldn't have been good for his pocketbook either. I wonder if the Donald's newfound enthusiasm to open up his wallet for the Clips the last few years was partly due to tax write offs during the boom years. Now that the real estate market has tanked (even in the South Park area), we'll see if the Donald continues his free spending ways. Of course, his high end luxury apartments and condos

10/06/08 02:43:39

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